The Champions Blog: ROUND OF 16 DRAW SPECIAL

Once again, the Round of 16 is set to provide us with some mouthwatering games, with every game set to captivate the audience. Some of the matches we have in store will be absolute blockbusters for the final 16 teams that we have left in the Champions League. Former Bayern Munich striker, Giovane Élber, helped out with the draw in Nyon, as the 16 teams have learnt their fate, and the route to Munich is set into motion. This is the Champions Blog: Round of 16 Special. 

Game 1: Aston Villa vs Club Brugge 

In the first confirmed game of the last 16, we have Aston Villa of England, against the only Belgian team left in the competition, Club Brugge. Villa qualified for their first Champions League campaign since the 1982-83 season, and have done pretty well, repeating their 1982 final win, defeating Bayern Munich on match day 2, 1-0. Going into match day 8, Villa were sitting just outside of the top 8 places, but hat-trick hero, Morgan Rogers helped Villa secure a 4-2 win over Celtic, helping them finish 8th in the table, automatically qualifying them for the last 16. Meanwhile, Club Brugge have surprised all odds, from barely scrapping into the knockout-round play offs, to defeating reigning Europa League champions, Atalanta, which saw them reach their first last 16 since the 2022-23 season. These two sides have already met this season, with the Belgian side winning 1-0 courtesy of a penalty from Hans Vanaken. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Tuesday 4th March 2025 (Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium)

Leg 2: Wednesday 12th March 2025 (Villa Park, Birmingham, England)

Last Encounter in Competition:

2024/25 League Phase: Club Brugge 1-0 Aston Villa

(CLU: Vanaken (P) 52')

Game 2: Borussia Dortmund vs Lille 

Next up, we got last season's runners up, Borussia Dortmund against the only French team which directly qualified for the last 16, Lille. This is set to be the first ever encounter between the two sides. Dortmund's run to Wembley last season was incredible, defeating huge names while producing some incredible comebacks. This season, Dortmund's have overcame many obstacles, both domestically and continentally, which also saw the sacking on Nuri Şahin and the arrival of Niko Kovač. The Germans defeated a helpless Sporting CP side, 3-0 on aggregate and are set to face Lille, in which would be their first encounter in the competition. Lille meanwhile, have been doing well themselves, after a rough start, Lille picked up famous wins over both Madrid sides before they put the icing on the cake with a commanding 6-1 win over Feyenoord, sealing 7th in the table. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Tuesday 4th March 2025 (Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany)
Leg 2: Wednesday 12th March 2025 (Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France)

Last Encounter in Competition:

First Ever Encounter 

Game 3: Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid. 

We're only at the round of 16, and we've already got the Madrid derby as a last 16 match. These two sides have rich history and are now set to face in the Champions League for the first time since 2017. Real Madrid's route to the last 16 was far from easy. Despite a comfortable win on opening day against VfB Stuttgart, Los Blancos suffered losses to Lille, AC Milan, and Liverpool, leaving them in a tight situation. However, wins in their final 3 match days managed to rescue them 11th in the table. They took on their biggest rivals of the 2020s, Manchester City, and overcame them 6-3 on aggregate, following Jude Bellingham heroics in Manchester and a Kylian Mbappe hattrick in Madrid. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid, while they had a rough start following heavy defeats to Lille and Benfica, regained composure and won fixtures against PSG, Bayer Leverkusen and others to seal 5th in the table. These sides have met in 2 of the last 10 Champions League finals, with Real Madrid prevailing both times. This is set to be their first encounter since the 2016-17 season, when Real Madrid prevailed once again 4-2 on aggregate through Cristiano Ronaldo's heroics.

  

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Tuesday 4th March 2025 (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain)

Leg 2: Wednesday 12th March 2025 (Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain)

Last Encounter in Competition: 

2016/17 Semi Final 2nd Leg: Atletico Madrid 2-1 Real Madrid 

(ATM: Saúl 12', Griezmann 16' (P). RMA: Isco 42')

Game 4: PSV vs Arsenal 

PSV's heroes against Juventus are set to face their next task in a formidable Arsenal side, who route to the last 16 proved what a formidable side they are. Peter Bosz's side have raised some eyebrows in the league phase. Following accumulating a total of 2 points in their opening 3 games, PSV's wins over Girona and Shakhtar Donetsk looked to put them back on course for qualifying for the last 16. A defeat against Brest looked to demotivate this PSV side, but they remained strong and even handed Liverpool their first defeat of the season, halting their 7 game winning run. They were drawn against Juventus, who they faced on match day 1. After a 2-1 defeat in the first leg in Turin, PSV turned the tie on its head, winning 3-1 in Eindhoven, which required extra time to pull off, following the late 98th minute strike from Ryan Flamingo to send them through. Meanwhile, Arsenal were incredible throughout the entire league phase, defeating PSG at the Emirates before putting 5 past Sporting CP, before a win at Girona sealed 3rd in the table for Mikel Arteta's side. These two sides met in last season's group stage, with Arsenal winning 4-0 upon their return to the Champions League, before drawing 1-1 on the final day of the group stage. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Tuesday 4th March 2025 (Phillips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands)

Leg 2: Wednesday 12th March 2025 (Emirates Stadium, London, England)

Last Encounter in Competition: 

2023/24 Group Stage Matchday 6: PSV 1-1 Arsenal 

(PSV: Vertessen 50'. ARS: Nketiah 42')

Game 5: Feyenoord vs Inter Milan 

Both sides have been impressive so far in this competition in their own respective manners. Inter finished fourth while conceding only one goal in a 1-0 loss away to Bayer Leverkusen. Besides that, Inter have taken points off the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Monaco, and RB Leipzig, with their captain, Lautaro Martinez being the star man, helping them secure victories. Credit goes out to Inter's back line of Alessandro Bastoni, Stefan de Vrij and Benjamin Pavard, who've only conceded one goal throughout the entire league phase. Meanwhile, Feyenoord, who're still adjusting to life without Arne Slot, have been through a lot this season. After grabbing 6 points in their opening four games, Feyenoord stunned everyone when they pulled off an amazing comeback in Manchester, coming three goals down to draw 3-3 with the Premier League champions, Manchester City. Afterwards, Feyenoord miraculously defeated Bayern 3-0 before a catastrophic defeat away to Lille left them 19th in the table. The Dutch side were drawn against Milan, which is where they sold their ex star man, Santiago Gimenez. In the first leg in Rotterdam, Feyenoord took the advantage through an early goal from Igor Paixāo. The return fixture saw Gimenez score his first goal against Feynoord, but a 73rd minute strike from Julian Carranza sealed a 2-1 win on aggregate and Feyenoord's first entry to the last 16 for the very first time. With Robin van Persie now in charge of the Dutch giants, this game should make pulses race. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Wednesday 5th March 2025 (De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Leg 2: Tuesday 11th March 2025 (San Siro, Milan, Italy)

Last Encounter in Competition: 

First Ever Encounter  

Game 6: Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen 

As these two sides battle out for the Bundesliga title back in Germany, we're set to seem them compete with each other once again, in the third separate competition this season, and for the first time in this competition. The two sides recently met in the Bundesliga, with the score being 0-0 in Leverkusen. Bayern Munich's reign under Vincent Kompany has been somewhat interesting, as the dethroned Bundesliga champions started off incredibly, following a 9-2 victory on opening day over Dinamo Zagreb, as they became the first team to score 9 goals in a single Champions League game. However, losses against a returning Aston Villa and a vengeful Barcelona, seemed to make things interesting for Bayern. However, 4 wins in 5 was enough to seal qualification for the play-off round, finishing 12th in the table. The Bavarians were paired with Celtic who pushed them all the way in the second leg in Munich. However, a dramatic last minute goal from Alphonso Davies sealed the deal as the Bavarians already won 2-1 in Glasgow. Bayer Leverkusen meanwhile, got off to a flying start, accumulating 7 points from 9 in their opening three games. A catastrophic defeat at Anfield to Liverpool followed, but Xabi Alonso's side regained confidence and grabbed wins against RB Salzburg and Inter Milan, conceding the latter's only goal in the league phase. A dramatic defeat away to Atletico Madrid put the Germans on a brink of the play-off round, but a win at home against Sparta Praha meant the German champions sealed 6th in the table, and are set to face the biggest rivals in the last year. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Wednesday 5th March 2025 (Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany)

Leg 2: Tuesday 11th March 2025 (BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany)

Last Encounter in Competition: 

First Ever Encounter  

Game 7: Benfica vs Barcelona 

These two sides already played each other in what could've been a strong contender for game of the season, as Barca came from behind to win in a dramatic 5-4 clash in Lisbon. Speaking of Barcelona, life in both Spain and Europe has been pretty comfortable so far in the Hansi Flick era. However, the start of the Champions League looked to raise some questions for the Blaugrana, as the side lost 2-1 away to Monaco, who made their first Champions League appearance since 2018. Barca turned around since that defeat, winning all games including winning their first game against Bayern Munich since 2015, while producing incredible comebacks away to Borussia Dortmund and Benfica. The Blaugrana could've sealed first in the table as Liverpool lost away to PSV, but a draw against Atalanta on the final day only sealed 2nd in the table. Meanwhile, Benfica had a better start, with wins against Crvena Zvezda and Atletico Madrid which saw them rise to 3rd in the table. However, losses against Feyenoord and Bayern Munich saw them drop 16 places down to 19th. After winning at Monaco and drawing at home to Bologna, these two sides met in Lisbon, with Barca emerging victorious 5-4. The team regained confidence with a win over Juventus in Turin, which saw them finish 16th in the table. After being drawn to face Monaco again, the Eagles took the first leg in Monaco 1-0 before a dramatic 3-3 draw in Lisbon the following week saw them progress 4-3 on aggregate. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Wednesday 5th March 2025 (Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal)

Leg 2: Tuesday 11th March 2025 (Estadi Olympic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain)

Last Encounter in Competition:

2024/25 League Phase: Club Brugge 1-0 Aston Villa

(BEN: V.Pavlidis 2', 22', 30' (P)  R.Araújo 68' (OG). BAR: R.Lewandowski 13' (P), 78' (P), Raphinha 64', 90+5', E.García 86')

Game 8: PSG vs Liverpool 

Last but most certainly not least, we've got another clash between two European heavyweights. One representing France and the other representing England. PSG's start to the Champions League was incredibly rough, accumulating only 4 points in their opening 5 games, leaving them 25th with three games to go. However, luck changed for Luis Enrique's side, as wins in their final three games to RB Salzburg, Manchester City, and VfB Stuttgart helped the Parisians climb to 15th. The Ligue 1 champions faced fellow French side, Brest, in which they comfortably breezed past, winning 3-0 in Guingamp before hammering them 7-0 in Paris, winning 10-0 on aggregate. Meanwhile, Liverpool have been arguably the team to watch this season. The Reds unfortunately had to say goodbye to legendary head coach, Jürgen Klopp at the end of last season, but when Arne Slot took charge of the Reds, he turned their fortunes around. The Reds went on a seven game winning streak which started on Matchday 1, as they defeated the likes of AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid. Unfortunately however, all good things come to an end, as Liverpools unbeaten start to the season came to a halt as the Reds were defeated to Slot's former rivals in the Eredivisie, PSV. However, Barca's draw at Atalanta meant the Reds would stay on top of the table, as they're now set to face their next challenge in PSG. En route to Liverpool's last Champions League win, these two sides met in the group stage of the 2018/19 season, with Liverpool winning 3-2 at Anfield and PSG winning 2-1 in Paris. 

Leg Locations:

Leg 1: Wednesday 5th March 2025 (Parc de Princes, Paris, France)

Leg 2: Tuesday 11th March 2025 (Anfield, Liverpool, England)

Last Encounter in Competition:

2018/19 Group Stage: PSG 2-1 Liverpool 

(PSG: J.Bernat 13', Neymar 37'. LIV: Milner 45+1' (P)

Overall, we're in for a real treat for this last 16. With some exciting encounters in store for us across Europe, only 8 will progress to the quarter finals and get one step closer to becoming the new kings of Europe. The Road to Munich has officially begun. The Champions Blog will return soon as the Round of 16 kicks off.